


Freshman Year

by orphan_account



Series: Crockercorp High School for the Protagonistically Afflicted [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: :0), Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Big Green Gold-Toothed Asshole With A Cue Staff Peg Leg, Bullying, Canon Related, Comedy, Confusing Bullshit, Crocker Corp, Cute, Dry Humor, Embarrassment, Green Gold-Toothed Asshole, High School, Horns, Humor, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prosthetics, honk, hornstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-03-26 19:39:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3862273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>//Tavros Nitram has been homeschooled for his elementary school and middle school years by Twinklebull.. Twinklebull finally lets him attend The Crockercorp High School for the Protagonistically Afflicted.. Shenanigans ensue..//</p><p>//This story may go on hiatus for much of the summer ((in U.S.A.))..//</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. tAVROS

**Author's Note:**

> //This is gonna be a really long series.. Prepare thy thinkpans..//

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //Tavros first day at school starts off pretty embarrassingly..//  
> //This is a more basic version of the story,, for the poor saps on mobile.. If you''re on a computer,, and want to see Doc Scratch''s comments and the colored version of the text,, | strongly reccommend going to the Google Docs version https://docs.google.com/document/d/18iQQpJqkUviOGdp23gfLLg8KuyA8S1_xoakSmLUUojM/pub

Crockercorp High School for the Protagonistically Afflicted  
Freshman Year

Chapter 1 tAVROS

Tinkerbull flew into the hive from the tiny entry window at the top floor, immediately followed by some fifty other fairy bulls, concerned for their leader’s erratic and agitated movements. Tinkerbull flew all the way down to the bottom of the hive, where TAVROS NITRAM sat adjusting the straps on his legs.

Tavros looked up at the approaching fairy bull swarm and grinned. “hI TINKERBULL,” he exclaimed brightly, standing up on his prosthetic legs.

Tavros was very proud of his legs. They were strong Crockercorp Ironfast Racing Blades©,and he’d been wearing them for three years with no sign of stress damage. The legs were finely crafted, with perfectly curved blades and traction that never wore off. Tavros stood up and bounced on his legs to test the straps, and satisfied that the were, made for the door.

Tinkerbull rammed his tiny horns into Tavros’ back, and Tavros jumped from the sting.

“uH, tINKERBULL, wHAT WAS THAT FOR,” complained Tavros, rubbing in between his shoulder blades. Tinkerbull whistled and mooed agitatedly, and Tavros laughed.  
“tINKERBULL, dON'T WORRY, i'LL BE FINE, eVERYONE HAS TO GO TO HIGH SCHOOL, i'M NOT IN SOME GREAT DANGER LIKE ON ALTERNIA,”

Tinkerbull looked apprehensive, but flew back farther into the house. Tavros waved goodbye to Tinkerbull and ran out of the door.

Tavros loved to run. He had already signed up for the track team at the Crockercorp High School for the Protagonistically Afflicted©. Through some legal shenanigans and Crockercorp Neuron-to-Data Translation Technology©, Tinkerbull had managed to get the school to overlook his disability and get Tavros on the normal track team.

Tavros ran all the way to school, excited to be going to high school for the first time. Tinkerbull was very protective of Tavros, and had homeschooled him throughout his middle and elementary school years. Only through much pleading on Tavros’ part had Tinkerbull decided to enroll him at Crockercorp High©. Tavros would be interacting with other people on a regular basis now. Tavros ran the half mile from his house to the school, and into the schoolyard, where a few trolls and humans stood in small groups, conversing in the few minutes they had before the bell sounded.

Unfortunately, the high school was built by humans, and they had forgotten that some trolls had very wide horns, so the doorways were not wide enough to accommodate Tavros’ horns. Tavros was so excited that he forgot to stop running(a bad habit of his)and slammed straight into the open doors of the school.

His horns were buried at least an inch or two into the soft wooden doorframes, and he hung there, in the height of embarrassment, unable to get out and in pain.

Tavros heard snickering all around him as his face burned bright orange. He tried in vain to remove his horns from the door frame but the tips were lodged in just such a way as to prevent him from slipping out of the wood.  
“GOT A LITTLE EXCITED THERE, DID WE?” came the intense voice of CALIBORN. Tavros could hear the footsteps of the short cherub behind him come to a stop right behind him.

Caliborn was a despicable being, and no one liked to hang around him save for the Felt Duds, a group of unintelligent lackeys that never talked, which wierded everyone out. Caliborn himself wierded everyone out as it was, what with his skull-like head.

“LET’S SEE IF WE CAN GET THESE BITCH-HORNS BACK OUT, EH?” inquired Caliborn. He raised his fist to smash it into Tavros’ head, but paused when he heard the sound of bike horns.

 

End Chapter 1


	2. tAVROS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //Gamzee accompanies Tavros in Crockercorp High©..//
> 
> //Dave becomes existent..//
> 
> Here for the colorful Scratched version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nJ-JsRm5p056MTvSAt4A8L5pcJH0X5ce-jCocraYNZ0/pub

Chapter 2

tAVROS

Tavros screwed his eyes shut, preparing for whatever horribleness this person behind him was about to inflict on him. As long as it got his horns out of the door frame, it didn’t really matter. 

Nothing happened, except that Tavros could hear the sound of bike horns. The kind with the squeezable black ball on the end.

Caliborn, having been about to smash his fist into Tavros’ head for the fun of it, immediately dropped it back down at his side. He didn’t want to risk starting shit if the clown was around.

GAMZEE MAKARA entered the schoolyard, making his typical honking sound in order to announce his arrival. No one understood how he made the sound of a bike horn by stroking his horns, but with Gamzee, you just had to roll with it.

“So wHaT AlL ThE MoThErFuCk iS GoInG On uP HeRe?” asked Gamzee, plodding up to Tavros and Caliborn. He observed Tavros’ horns stuck in the door frame and smiled goofily.

“My bRo, YoU ApPeAr tO HaVe a mIrAcUlOuS PrObLeM. yOu wAnT SoMe hElP?” he asked walking up to Tavros as Caliborn carefully stepped to the side, showing a deference to Gamzee that he never displayed towards anyone else.

Tavros nodded as best as he could. “i, uH, yEAH, i JUST NEED A, uH, a QUICK PULL, iS ALL,” stammered Tavros. He couldn’t see Gamzee, but he felt like curling into the fetal position just from hearing Gamzee’s drugged but confident voice. 

Gamzee grinned, his mouth finally lining up with his face paint. “WeLl tHeN, i'lL GiVe yOu a mOtHeRfUcKiNg pUlL, bRo,” Gamzee said. Tavros, thinking it a threat, closed his eyes in anticipation of the pain to come. Instead, he felt hands grab firmly onto his horns and gently wobble them back and forth until the wood’s pressure against the horns wasn’t quite so strong. Then he quickly ripped Tavros’ horns out of the frame. Tavros fell to his knees, both from exhaustion from having to stand in an awkward position and from the brief, but horrible pain of his horns being ripped from the door frame.

Gamzee honked and then laughed. “YoU AlL RiGhT BrO?” he asked as Tavros stood up, stumbling a bit when the metal tip of his left leg slipped against the ground. 

“yEAH,” mumbled Tavros as he turned to face his savior. They were about the same height, Tavros being a little shorter if you didn’t count his large mohawk. Gamzee had on white face paint, applied so that it always looked as if he was smiling a massive, ear to ear smile. Somehow, his actual mouth wasn’t very noticeable, so the ghastly smile was all the more convincing.

The first bell sounded, and the people standing in the tree lined schoolyard headed in. Students who had just arrived in buses began to enter in droves. The car line streatched a good ways down the street. Caliborn shoved past Tavros in a huff. Tavros was staring in mild fear and intimidation at Gamzee, who slapped him on the back in a friendly manner.”YoU GoT YoUr sChEdUlE, mY DuDe? MaYbE We cAn hElP EaCh oThEr oUt,” Gamzee asked.

“uH, yES,”stammered Tavros as put a hand in his backpack, awkwardly looting around in it as they walked down the hall(Tavros made sure to turn his head to the side when entering the doors), and finally pulling out a rumpled schedule after a good twenty seconds of rummaging. It was as such:

Period 1. World History 1 Honors.............English, Jake  
Period 2. Sports(Track)............................Highblood, Grand  
Period 3. Algebra 1..................................Strider, Dirk  
Period 4. English 1 Honors......................One, Signless  
Period 5. Theater:....................................Dualscar, Orphaner  
Period 6. Home Economics:.....................Crocker, Jane

Gamzee grinned. “Yo, We gOt aLl tHe oNeS ExCePt fOr tHe fIrSt tWo aLl tOgEtHeR,” Gamzee said. Tavros, who was still pretty frightened of the clownish but imposing highblood, merely nodded.

A human behind the pair cleared his throat. Both of the trolls turned around to face a chill dude in shades.

“Sup.”

End Chapter 2


	3. Dave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //Dave thinks he knows what he's doing,, but he really doesn''t..//
> 
> //Here for colorful Scratched version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cgYoxA6ZmStc-cJy22QDZneUw0Y5GqACdO-LzqklmIA/pub
> 
> //To anyone who says | spelled wierd wrong...... | know.. It''s not gonna get fixed..//

Chapter 3

Dave

DAVE STRIDER stared at the two trolls with casual interest. One of them had ridiculously wide horns. Dave wondered if he could install some MIDI controllers on them, the horns were just that fucking wide. He could probably put a whole mixing deck on there. Hell, he could probably put his whole fucking setup on there. That would be one hella sweet mobile setup right there.

“sup,” said Dave, keeping his cool despite the presence of the creepy ass clown. Dave had seen him around a couple times before behind various buildings, smoking all kinds of wierd shit and eating pies of slime. Dave didn’t much care for drugs. He liked to keep a clear head in case his Bro randomly decided to Strife him.

Dave decided that maybe he’d have optimal chances against the clown if he started thinking in Comic Sans MS. Then he’d be on the same level as the clown. Thusly prepared, Dave decided to engage in a conversation.

“you guys need help? you two look fuckin’ fresh off the freshest boat you look like you’d make a fuckin’ febreze freshener fresher just by being in the same room as it,” Dave said with a projected air of coolness. He silently berated himself for accidentally going on that nervous ramble, but it was all cool. He could still work with this.

The one with the real fuckin’ wide horns looked absolutely crushed, but the clown smiled goofily. “YeAh, BrO, wE NeEd sOmE HeLp lEaRnInG ThE WaY AlL ArOuNd hErE. yOu kNoW WhAt's aT WhErE?” asked the clown.

Dave didn’t really know what was at where, because he was a freshman too, but he figured he could figure it out. Couldn’t be too hard to find a couple of rooms. There were only like, what, three hundred something rooms in this school? At least that was all Dave had seen. Maybe the Big Man had put a bunch of other room hidden away somewhere. You never could predict what an immortal green skull headed man-child was gonna do next. “yeah sure man what’s your first class”

Gamzee read from his schedule, which he had pulled from his sleeve. “WeLl dUdE, i'vE GoT ThE BiOlOgY In fIrSt aNd bOtAnY In tHe sEcOnD. tHeN I'Ve gOt aLl tHe sAmE ClAsSeS As tHiS DuDe,” Gamzee nudged Tavros, who repeated his classes to Dave.

Dave nodded sagely, then cringed internally, berating himself for somehow deciding that this was a good idea. At least he knew where World History was. Dirk had made sure Dave knew. Dirk had taken Dave to this high school many times, when Bro was off doing who knew what at the edge of the universe. Dave had watched Jake and Dirk doing gay shit for the past three years, since Dirk had first been hired to teach at this suspiciously convenient school. Seriously, how had every person from the game wind up at this school. Dave wondered briefly what game he was even thinking about, then dismissed the entire thought because he didn’t have time for thinking about the past.

“alright so world history is down next to the math classes way at the end of this hallway on the second floor and biology is probably somewhere near World History which used to be a lab room all the lab rooms are grouped together because theyve got a natural gas tank connected to all the lab tables in the labs and theyre probably cutting on piping costs by making the pipes shorter because theyre cheap motherfuckers and this is a capitalist empire”

Tavros looked relieved. He thought it was strange that the school had neglected to introduce the freshmen to the school but he dismissed it. Gamzee laughed.

“ThAnKs dUdE. sEe yA AlL ArOuNd,” Gamzee stroked his horns and the hall was filled with the signature bike horn sound.

“no problem man anyti-”  
Dave was interrupted by the PA.

IF YOU ARE A FRESHMAN, PLEASE REPORT TO THE ASSEMBLY HALL. THERE WILL BE AN INTRODUCTION TO THIS SCHOOL STARRING ME, PRINCIPAL LORD ENGLISH, AND THE VICE PRINCIPAL, ANDREW HUSSIE. YOU WILL BE GUIDED TO CLASS BY YOUR FIRST PERIOD TEACHERS.

Dave cursed. Of course the school would handle this shit. They weren’t stupid. And the assembly hall was right in front of them, just to the left in the main hall. Freshmen who had been standing around, just as lost as Dave and the trolls, were pouring in. He really should have known. It would have been nice if Dirk had given him some pointers on how to go about doing shit in high school in the first place, but Dave was only ever at this high school during the afternoon, because middle school got out way earlier.

~©~

PRINCIPAL ENGLISH stood in the center of the stage, every single possible light focused on him. He was quite a sharp looking man, actually. He wore a tight-fitting green suit with buttons, cufflinks, collar, and tie all alternating colors via the power of the space-time continuum. One of his pant legs was neatly tucked into his pool cue peg-leg, and complemented it’s golden shine perfectly. Curiously, Principal English wore a human skull over his head. It was an actual human skull, painted green with the rather inhuman canines plated with gold. There was no jaw so that he could talk freely without a misaligned bone obstructing him. VICE PRINCIPAL HUSSIE stood in the shadows, halfway behind the curtain. Principle English took in a great breath, and said, HELLO, NINTH GRADERS. IN THIS ASSEMBLY, YOU ARE GOING TO LEARN HOW THIS PLACE WORKS. RULE NUMBER ONE IS THAT YOU WILL LEARN. YOU WILL THEN GRADUATE. “BUT WHAT IF I’M NOT SMART ENOUGH?” YOU WHINE. “WHAT IF I DON’T CARE ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?” LET ME JUST SAY THAT EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS EVER ATTENDED THIS SCHOOL HAS GRADUATED. EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON.

RULE NUMBER TWO IS THAT WHEN I TELL YOU TO DO SOMETHING, YOU WILL DO IT WITHOUT QUESTION. RULE NUMBER THREE IS FOLLOW THE OTHER RULES THAT SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION MAKES. RULE NUMBER FOUR IS DON’T PISS OF BEC NOIR. THAT IS ALL. FIND YOUR FIRST PERIOD TEACHERS AND GET YOUR PUNY MORTAL BODIES OUT OF MY SIGHT.

Dave looked around for Dirk Strider, the post-Scratch version of his bro. Dave wasn’t sure what Scratch meant, but Bro had told him that that was what made the difference between him and Dirk. Dave finally spotted Dirk when he spotted a shitty anime sword flailing about in the air and flashing light everywhere. 

~©~

“Alright dudes, heres how its gonna go. I teach you the math, you don’t say one goddamn thing to the Principal. He isn’t the most solid dude,” said DIRK STRIDER. The class was mute, unsure of exactly how to respond to this. Dave, having stopped thinking in Comic Sans since the clown wasn’t around, knew exactly what shenanigans Dirk was referring to.

End Chapter 3


	4. *Jake*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //Welcome to Worlds History,, taught by Jake English,, explorer extraordinaire...//
> 
> {{For those of you who would like to know,, this story starts out and revolves around the time period of 900--1000 Way After Canon,, or W..A..C..}}
> 
> //Here for the colored and scratched version https://docs.google.com/document/d/12k-ytKewpTuXg6t7njL_n7OLL1TGvPuS47Bg75RIfM4/pub

Tavros trailed behind everyone else into Mr. English’s classroom. He took a seat in the back of the class. Everyone sat around chatting until a loud snap whipped through the room.

JAKE ENGLISH smacked his favorite ruler/cue stick against his desk a second time. No one spoke. TEREZI PYROPE covered her ears in anticipation of a third smack, but it didn’t come. Her ears were pretty sensitive, as she was blind.

“Alright chaps, WELCOME to world history! And I’ll be *darned* if this isn’t the best gosh darn class in the whole of this capitalist governed school!”

“Yo, watch the fucking language, bro. There are kids in the building,” the voice of Mr. Strider floated through the doorway behind Mr. English’s desk that connected their two classrooms.

“Well, sir, you can keep quiet in that *voodoo* classroom you’ve got there! The kids certainly don’t need a blasted PUPPET flitting over their heads all the time!” Jake replied huffily, albeit with a small smile on his face.

“Now then, let’s carry on with class, shall we?” Mr. English faced the class. After all the necessary beginning-of-the-year paperwork was finished, Jake moved straight into teaching, no further introduction necessary. This semester Jake planned on teaching Western Earth history. Next semester he would move to Eastern Alternian history.

Jake was proud of his knowledge. He was the heir to a company called Skaianet, a massive global conglomerate that made immersive virtual reality video games, weapons, and transportation tools and vehicles. Jake had spent years travelling around the various worlds accessible to Skaianet, such as Alternia, Earth, The Green Sun, Prospit, Derse, and Skaia itself, the planet of Skaianet’s origin. He had spoken with and lived with indigenous people of every planet, and had seen millions of different species of plants and animals. Most importantly, he kept meticulous journals, logs, and resource databases on everything he saw. He never took off his Skulltop whenever he went adventuring, and had petabytes of recordings of his adventures. When he applied for a job teaching Worlds History, Crockercorp didn’t hesitate to hire him despite being the eventual heir to Skaianet. He was a treasure trove of information, yet he was ignorant of his significance to the *plot*.

“Alright chaps, we’ll be doing a one day introductory unit today to ease you into the class. We’ll be looking at is the early a.d. era, when a *fabulous* country called the united states of america was the most powerful nation on this planet! Does anyone know anything about this country?” asked Jake, beaming at the class.

ARADIA MEGIDO raised her hand. She was a very quiet girl, and somehow seemed to vanish when one stopped looking at her.

“Aradia, is it? Well then, tell us what you know,” said Jake, rubbing his hands together gleefully. He loved to show up his students with his superior knowledge.

“the united states 0f america was a nati0n that started 0ut as a c0l0ny 0f a very tiny c0untry which we n0 l0nger kn0w the name 0f. there was a large war called the revelati0n war and the united states became an independent nati0n. this nati0n grew rapidly, taking 0ver the s0undwaves airspaces 0ceans and ec0n0my 0f the w0rld until alm0st every facet 0f human civilizati0n c0ntained s0me trace 0f the united states influence

unf0rtunately the nati0n had tw0 distinctly different parties. the leftists embraced change freed0m and techn0l0gical advancement while the c0nservativists embraced 0rder techn0l0gical wariness and extreme financial and familial stability. these tw0 p0litical parties became s0 h0stile t0wards each 0ther that they had a massive civil war and unleashed a h0rrible weap0n 0n themselves. apparently they fired a beam 0f s0lid fire fr0m space and razed themselves t0 the gr0und

we were 0nly able t0 glean this inf0rmati0n fr0m vari0us s0mewhat preserved c0mputer netw0rks that were f0und 0n the american c0ntinents deep undergr0und in a sealed chamber”

Jake’s jaw dropped. That was all the information he had gathered about the United States. It was one of the few things that nobody knew very much about. He couldn’t even fathom how this girl had gotten her hands on this information.

Jake silently opened and closed his mouth for a bit, then regained his composure.“Yes! That’s exactly it! For those of you who haven’t waxed your ears, the united states was a very powerful country that ruled the world until it tore itself apart in a civil war, apparently using a weapon from space that shot solid fire.”

Everyone waited impatiently for the lesson to continue, what with all of them having pretty clean ears.

Jake sensed their impatience and moved on, blushing a bit in embarrassment. “So today we’ll be exploring the deadblasted american wastelands in person!”

The students perked up, both confused and excited. Going to the Americas in person?

Jake eagerly slapped a button on his desk. Glowing green lines formed on the floor, fading into the unmistakeable mesh design of a transportalizer. Before anyone had time to understand what was about to happen, they were in the wastelands.

Tavros stared around in wonder. They sat in their desks on a wide hill, looking out on mile after mile of dead land. There was a forest off to the left, a petrified one, with a curious translucent quality to it. The ground was strange, with the grass being curiously stiff looking and grey, and nothing green to be seen anywhere. The air was unnaturally clear, allowing them to see much farther than normal. Tavros peered at a collection of extremely tall objects in the distance. His eyes widened when he realized that the objects extended far into the clouds.

“GODDAMN, YOU FUCKWADS MADE ONE BIG *WRIGGLING* MESS, DIDN’T YOU. WE NEVER DID ANYTHING THIS SHITTY TO ALTERNIA,” said KARKAT VANTAS.

For some reason he saw fit to yell even though everyone was well within earshot, as they were still sitting in their desks, which had transportalized along with them. Terezi turned her head towards him, and was probably glaring at him, but no one could see past her dark red, pointed sunglasses. Karkat slid his gaze away from her, and quieted down, though his voice was no less intense.

“ANYWAYS, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE, MR. ENGLISH?” asked Karkat, getting up from his desk and brushing his feet on the stiff grass, drawing them back when the grass shattered into dust like the brittlest of glass.

“We’re going on an *adventure*, so quit your plavar!!” said Jake with excitement, pulling his Skulltop out from under his desk. He immediately charged down the hill and towards the tall spires in the distance.

Tavros took that as yet another opportunity to run. He easily kept pace with Mr. English, leaving all the other students behind. Jake was surprised. He was a pretty darn fit man, and here was this small paraplegic practically outrunning him! It looked like he’d have to start going out on real adventures again every once in a while, to keep the physique up.

All the other students followed at a more casual distance, partly out of fear of the glasslike grass, and partly because running was overrated. Karkat stewed at the shitstorm of stupidity he was going through. Terezi sniffed the air, and smelled something suspicious.

End Chapter 4


	5. GaMzEe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //Do not stare directly into the sunflower..//
> 
> //Here for colored version:: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CU2q_QK9jp-_msPjAKSynMs6a4HYI8qujqEeNcJh97M/pub

Gamzee wandered down the hall, following the scent of flowers and brown blood until he came upon the botany class. He pushed open the door to a classroom overgrown with strange plants. In fact, it was in ruins. THE SUMMONER stood at a simple oak podium, a vine creeping up its stand. He chirped at a bird that was perched on the podium. It had a red plumage and a star shaped crown of orange feathers just barely above its eyes. The bird chirped a bit back at the Summoner and then bobbed its head quite fast and flew away.

Gamzee was instantly transfixed by the bird’s large crown, and watched it disappear over the horizon, unbothered that a classroom with four walls could have a horizon. He stared into space, contemplating the bird, for a good while, until the Summoner snopped his fingers in front of Gamzee’s face.

“hEY, kID, aRE YOU AWAKE, qUIT BLOCKING THE DOOR, aND GRAB A PLANT YOU LIKE FROM THE BACK, iT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR,” the Summoner urged Gamzee away from the door. The Summoner cringed a little bit when he saw Gamzee’s face paint, remembering Kurloz, one of his worst students from last year.

Gamzee ambled to the back of the room and gazed at all of the plants lined up in perfect rows. There were massive plants, so heavy that the shelves were bent under their weight, and there were plants so tiny and light that they seemed to float at every breath of air in the room. Some plants actually did float, resting in the air as if on an invisible shelf. There were plants that seemed not to be plants at all, writhing plants, fluffy plants, carnivo- well, you get the idea. A fuckload of plants. The shelf seemed to stretch far beyond the dimensions of the room, though there weren’t even any definable bounds of a room at all.

Gamzee spotted a plant a few feet away from him. The undersides of its leaves flashed random, bright colors, producing a highly psychedelic feel around it. The tops of the leaves were a swirl of green and brown, and the stems were laden with white spikes. Gamzee gently took it off of the shelf and went for the nearest empty desk. He sat behind a mass of flowing black hair. The hair flowed over the back of the desk chair and pooled on the edge of Gamzee’s desk before falling almost to the floor, just shy of the brickish tiles. Gamzee was amazed at its incredible length. He lightly brushed his black nails through the hair to discover that it was incredibly soft. Gamzee gasped in surprise. It was softer than sopor, softer than anything he had ever encountered before.

The owner of this long hair whipped their head around to glare at him. “why are you touching my hair, you creep!!>:(” JADE HARLEY glared accusingly at Gamzee. Gamzee immediately pulled his fingers from her hair and stammered, eyes wide. “UuUh, i-i’M ReAlLy sOrRy bUt iT WaS ReAlLy lOnG AnD It wAs pReTtY AnD ThEn iT WaS SoFt i'm rEaLlY ReAlLy sOrRy *HoNk* :o(“

Gamzee shrank back from Jade’s imposing face, unable to tell what she was thinking and terrified that she would hate him. This was how every school year had started, he had fucked up with someone somehow and it had all gone downhill from there.

Jade’s face brightened. “oh! sometimes i get distracted by pretty stuff, so i can understand that! and thanks for liking my hair, i wasn’t sure if i wanted it this way today:)”

Gamzee’s eyes widened. She wasn’t mad at him. His heartbeat slowed and relief showed plainly on his face. Jade grinned at him and turned back to face the Summoner as he cleared his throat. “aLRIGHT SO WELCOME TO GREENERY, oBVIOUSLY. lET ME LAY A FEW GROUND RULES AND THEN WE CAN START IMMEDIATELY. tHOSE PLANTS THAT YOU PICKED ARE YOURS FOREVER, dURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR YOU WILL FIGURE OUT HOW TO FEED IT AND KEEP IT ALIVE IN WHATEVER WAY IT DEMANDS, yOU WILL GET NO HELP FROM ME SO YOU BETTER FIGURE IT OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, bECAUSE YOU HAVE THREE DAYS AT MAXIMUM BEFORE THEY BEGIN TO DIE, 

“bARRING THAT, wE WILL BE HAVING ALL OF OUR CLASSES FOLLOWING THIS ONE IN THE LAND OF NITROGEN AND GREENHOUSES, tHERE YOU WILL DO WHATEVER I TELL YOU TO THE LETTER OR ELSE YOU'LL PROBABLY DIE BECAUSE NOT ALL PLANTS ARE FRIENDLY, aNY QUESTIONS? nO? gOOD,” The Summoner didn’t really give anyone a chance to ask a question before smacking his hand on the button on his desk. Everyone vanished.

Gamzee fell out of his desk, extremely dizzy. He always had adverse reactions to being transportalized for some reason. Jade looked down at him, concerned. “are you okay?”

Gamzee got back into his desk. “YeAh bRo, I'M AlL FiNe iN HeRe.”

The Summoner called for everyone's attention. “wELCOME TO LoNaG, tHIS IS WHERE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT EVERY PLANT THERE IS FROM HERE ON OUT TO THE FURTHEST RING, sO BE CAREFUL,”

Not three seconds after he said this, someone got up from their desk and wandered outside of the white circle that lay around the group of desks and the podium, clearly marked with symbols that said “DO NOT CROSS.” A big, slimy, bloodred plant that looked not unlike a sunflower burst from the ground and smashed it’s seedbank down on the unfortunate student. Blue blood spattered everywhere, turning into a fine mist and raining gently on the other students.  
  
The Summoner sighed. “tHERE'S ALWAYS ONE,” he said as he rolled his eyes.

End of Chapter 5


End file.
